Wildcats look to keep winning momentum going

Published 6:00 am Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Coming off a win in its region opener against Priceville, the West Limestone Wildcats look to go 2-0 but will face a strong test in Rogers, one of the top-ranked teams in all of Class 4A.

“Rogers is a very physical football team,” West Limestone coach Jordan Cantrell said. “They are the most physical football around, period. In order to beat them, we’ll have to out-physical them. We’ll have to beat to the point with that. It will be a tough task, for sure, because their kids are sold out for the cause. It’s going to be good competition on Friday night.”

Rogers, the third-ranked team in 4A, is 3-0 on the season and 1-0 in region play. The Pirates defeated Loretto (Tennessee) 46-14 in their season opener and Lauderdale County 20-18 before blasting Danville 48-0 in its first region game last week.

The Pirates offensive line opened up running lanes all night for the backs, as all seven of Rogers’ touchdowns came on the ground. Clay Crafton had two rushing touchdowns to go with an interception.

After suffering tough losses to Tanner and East Limestone in its first two games, West began region play with a 27-3 win over Priceville.

Graham Pepper accounted for three of the Wildcats’ touchdowns, with two scoring passes and a punt return. West also had a defensive touchdown, as Jesse Rose recovered a mishandled snap on a Priceville punt return in the end zone for another score.

While the players were excited to taste victory after two straight losses to open the season, Cantrell said it didn’t change anything in the preparation for this week’s game.

“Our mood has not changed,” he said. “We want to win football games and love to win games, but the kids’ emotional state has been stable. They come to work regardless. A win is great, but now we’ve got Rogers and we’re preparing for them.”

However, preparing for Rogers has been difficult this week due to weather. Schools were closed yesterday for professional development, but all after-school activities were canceled due to the fear of storms in the wake of Hurricane Irma. Limestone County schools were also closed Tuesday for the same reason.

“It means you’re going to have to double up on Wednesday and Thursday practices,” Cantrell said. “Thursday is normally a walkthrough, but it may have to be a full practice for us to sharpen up. But everybody is in the same boat. All these schools around us have had cancellations as well.”